


Barrio's Best

by BloodTypeEspresso



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Falling In Love, Fanfiction, Fluff, Friendship, Love, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-11 06:16:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15309252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodTypeEspresso/pseuds/BloodTypeEspresso
Summary: An eleven-year-old Nina Rosario strikes up an unlikely friendship with Benny, the kid her dad is teaching how to drive. Through their brief encounters over the years, they learn that sometimes it takes someone who is your polar opposite to remind you of who you really are.





	1. Making the Grade

**Author's Note:**

> The story begins when Nina is 11 and Benny is 16. It will most likely cover the events of the play and possibly beyond.

Nina sat on her fire escape after school same as always. Most people had probably figured out that she loved to go up there and read, but no one ever bugged her. Rarely did her parents even bother calling her in unless it was really important, knowing she'd be so immersed in a book or thought that disruption would be accompanied by massive pre-teen attitude. Today she couldn’t find solace in a book though, instead, she angrily brushed away the tears that refused to stop falling regardless of how silly she knew she was being. It was just one bad grade, not even that bad in the grand scheme of things, a B- was nothing to be ashamed of...unless you were an 11-year-old Nina Rosario. Seemingly miles away Nina heard telltale car door slam that indicated the end of Benny and Mr. Rosario’s driving lesson for the day. Nina had heard her dad talking to Mrs. Rosario about how all Benny needed was a real shot, and his plans to eventually hire him once he was licensed and had more experience. Of course, that was a secret and they would never have spoken about it if they knew Nina was listening, but she thought it was nice of her dad either way. 

As if manifested by her thoughts Nina noticed the object of her musings was suddenly climbing the ladder to her fire escape. Hastily brushing away her tears she tried to make her emotions less obvious in front of the older boy. “Hey, Nina how’s it going?” Benny asked taking a seat next to her, not directly addressing her state.

“Okay I guess,” she conceded. “How was your driving lesson with Papi?” she asked, mostly to be polite given she and Benny had never been close but he was always nice to her. 

He sighed at her question, “I think he wants to strangle me a bit less than yesterday.” he shrugged.

“That’s good? I think.” Nina responded giggling despite herself.

“So tell me something,” he asked conspiratorially, “If you’re doing okay, why are you out on this balcony alone tryin’ not to cry?” he asked.

“Well technically I’m not alone anymore, and before you got here I was pretty much accepting the fact that I was crying,” she argued.

“Doesn’t answer my question smarty pants.” he countered nudging her shoulder with his. 

“I’m not smart. Not anymore,” she mumbled looking at her hands.

“What!?” he asked incredulously, “You’re the smartest girl I know...heck you’re way smarter than Usnavi and he’s my age!” 

Glaring at him Nina reached into her backpack and shoved her disgraceful math paper into his hands, “Not anymore” she argued looking away. She couldn’t bear to see the disappointment when he realized she was dumb. Benny was always so much cooler than the other kids, she didn’t want him to see her that way, but he was also super stubborn and she knew he’d be there all night badgering her if she didn’t relent. Her shyness was instantly overtaken by anger when she heard him chuckle, he was laughing at her! Just as she turned to chew him out he spoke.

“That’s it? A B-?” he asked. “Nina, that’s a great score.’

“Then why does it have a negative sign?” she demanded. 

“Because your teacher is an idiot.” he shrugged, not really making her feel better but making her laugh nonetheless. “Tell you what though, if it’s really buggin’ you I can help you with math after my driving lessons.” he offered. 

“Are you any good at math?” she asked skeptically momentarily forgetting she’d vowed to be polite to him, but it caused him to outright belly laugh so she figured it was okay.

“My best subject.” 

“Why?”

“Is it my best subject?” he asked.

“That too, but I mean why help me?”

“One because I like numbers and I’d like to open a business one day and math is necessary if you want to make money. Two, because I want to.” at her raised eyebrow he added, “and it wouldn’t hurt if your dad liked me better because I was helping you.”

“Okay. But can you not tell anyone about the bad grade?”

“What bad grade? As far as I'm concerned Nina Rosario is a straight-A student”

“Thanks. And he already likes you.”

“Tell him that!”

“He’s teaching you to drive.”

“And bustin’ my balls every step of the way.”

“Because he likes you,” she shrugged.

Benny just laughed, “maybe helping you will make him like me less than.”

\-------

It had been a couple of months since Benny started tutoring Nina if he could even call it that. The reality was that that kid was smarter than he could ever hope to be. Clearly, her current math teacher just wasn’t explaining things in a way she understood. In their brief study sessions, they had struck up an odd sort of friendship, not that he would really advertise to the barrio that he enjoyed hanging out with a nerdy little girl. He started teaching her about rap as a way to demonstrate fractions and she, in turn, talked his ear off about every book she’d ever read. He’d even gone out and gotten himself a public library card so he could check out books the school library didn’t have. Mostly though, talking to a little kid allowed him to voice his dreams without fear of getting mocked because someone who believed in the magic of a glass slipper certainly had to believe something more realistic like hard work paying off for a kid like himself. 

Today, however, was different. He’d just passed his driving test and was on his way to the Rosario’s house to personally thank Mr.Rosario for the lessons with some _pastelitos de guayaba_ , his favorite. 

“It’s dinner time.” Not exactly the greeting he was expecting when he knocked on the Rosario’s door.

_“Ahi Kevin, no seas asi!”_ Mrs. Rosario called from behind her husband before addressing Benny, “come in _mijo_ , there’s plenty of food are you hungry?” she asked rhetorically already fixing him a plate. 

“Um, thank you. I brought this…” he stammered handing Mr. Rosario the pastry box, “as a thank you for all the driving lessons. I got my license today.” he finished lamely trying not to cower under the man’s unreadable gaze. 

Nodding his head once, Mr. Rosario motioned for Benny to take a seat, “I guess this is a celebration. We can call Abuela Claudia over for _pastelitos_ and _café con leche_ .” It was more of a welcome than Benny had come to expect from the stern man, Nina, on the other hand, gave him an I-told-you-so look across the table.


	2. Crushin' It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina is 14 and on the brink of high school as a 19-year-old Benny officially joins the Rosario's Dispatch team.

“If it isn’t the Barrio’s Best!” Nina heard over her shoulder, causing her to slam her notebook shut as she continued to narrate over the dispatch microphone. The last thing she needed was Benny catching her doodle his name all over her notebook! It was the summer before her freshman year of high school and her dad was making her run dispatch to cover lunches.

“Hey Benny!” she grinned at the nineteen-year-old wearing his new uniform, minus the tie he still held in his hand. “Excited for your first day?” 

“Yeah, if I could just get this stupid tie on. I swear I tried a million different ways of messing with this thing and no dice,” he complained slumping into the seat next to her. “How about you? High school starts in what a week?” he asked.

“Yeah, but it’s just going to be more of the same. Lots of tests lots of papers, stupid math and ugh...gym.” she groaned the last part causing the young man to laugh. 

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. You’re the only person I know who brings a bag full of homework to actual work like you’ll have time while running dispatch!” Benny commented eyeing her notebook.

Nina shrugged off his comment, given the option she’d prefer he thinks she’s a super nerd than find out about her silly little crush. She just couldn't help it though! He was nice to her, he helped her parents and Abuela Claudia every chance he got plus he’d basically been on his own since he was sixteen! Sure he lived with his mom up until a week or two ago when her whole family (Including Usnavi, Sonny, and Abuela Claudia) had gone to help him move into his tiny apartment, but the woman was never really around. From what Daniela said Benny’s mom was a...word she wasn’t even allowed to think, who usually staying with one boyfriend or another just having enough decency to pay the bills, most of the time. Up until the moment her dad had offered Benny a job, he had spent most days helping Usnavi and Abuela Claudia at the bodega even though they couldn’t pay him much. “I only run dispatch for about an hour at a time...if that. So I have a lot of time to read.” Nina finally commented.

“At least there’s AC.” he grinned just as Mr. Rosario walked in. 

“Nina, stop distracting my employees.” he barked, causing both teens to blush abate for different reasons. “Benny, come on. Let's get that tie figured out, today you join the family, and I can’t have you looking like that. Then we can go over today’s schedule.”

\----------

As the sun set on her last day of summer vacation, Nina climbed to the highest point on the fire escape outside her building, much higher than her second-floor bedroom. Taking solace in the solitude and distance the height had to offer, Nina found herself climbing higher and higher as the years went by. Accustomed to the familiarity of academics, she wasn’t nervous about a more challenging curriculum so much as the much larger venue in which she was expected to thrive. Being a nerd living in the barrio was a lot harder than people seemed to realize, she wasn’t street smart, or hardened by hardship despite her family's lack of luxury. She was the only person she knew who had two parents who were still around and together to boot! The Rosarios were kind of like the parents of the barrio, constantly making sure Abuela Claudia and all the strays she took in were doing alright. Usnavi and Sonny may as well have been Nina’s brothers or at very least cousins for the amount of time they all spent having family dinners. She couldn’t quite say the same thing about Benny simply because he was more independent than the other boys. Even when they were kids and he was always getting into trouble, he played by his own rules. He was distinctly an outsider living amongst _Latinos_ , just a little more reserved and closed off than the rambunxious bunch she was used to. That was most likely due to his lack of a father and mostly absent mom. Nina at least knew for sure her family was from Puerto Rico, Benny once told her the only thing he knew about his dad was that he was probably black based on his own appearance. That was three years ago and the first and last time she heard him mention the man. 

Looking in the general direction of Benny’s new building Nina spotted a tiny figure sitting on their fire escape. From the distance, she couldn’t make out more than the vague silhouette of a human but she liked to think it was the young man who continued to occupy her thoughts. Just a few months ago Benny was living in the building across from the Rosario’s and every so often when she was out particularly late he would come out and stand on his own fire escape, arms crossed with a disapproving look beckoning her to get back to the safety of her bedroom. With one final wave at the mysterious figure (probably some homeless guy) who couldn’t even see her, Nina made her way back home.


	3. Quinceañera

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nina, Vanessa, and Pete are 15   
> Benny and Usnavi are 20  
> Sonny is 12

The first weekend of the summer after her freshman year of high school found Nina in the middle of her _quinceañera_ , despite many arguments with her parents against the lavish party. She thought a February birthday would have saved her the embarrassment given how cold the city was that time of year, but it only delayed the inevitable. At least she wasn't worried about nobody attending her party, the entire neighborhood made it out and she’d even managed to make one really good friend in high school, a girl named Vanessa. Polar opposites, the girls balanced each other out well. Embarrassingly, Nina had been forced to ask the one boy her age who actually spoke to her, a kid named Pete from her art class, to be her escort. Luckily he’d just shrugged and agreed to the party with the promise of free food. But after all the formality and showmanship, Nina was stuck in a big poofy pink dress waiting for the night to end. As she’d predicted the entire barrio had been invited to what was essentially a block party. 

“Hey, I got you something,” she heard from the seat next to her. Usually, Nina was pretty good about feeling Benny’s presence long before he announced himself but it had been a long day.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she smiled taking the package and slowly opening it anyway. Looking inside the box she couldn’t help but giggle at the gift. Inside was a cap with the words **Barrio’s Best** airbrushed on the front much like the graffiti on the side of the _bodega_.

“I busted some kid tagging the _bodega_ a few days ago, I promised not to snitch if he’d do me a solid,” he revealed. 

“Thank you, I can honestly say I don’t already own one,” she grinned.

“That’s what’s up.” They sat in companionable silence for a while before Benny broke the ice again. “So why aren't you out there?” he asked gesturing to the group of people literally dancing in the street.

Nina shrugged in response, she couldn’t tell him she’d feel too awkward. Dancing with Pete had been bad enough, but there was no getting out of that. She’d tried. Now she just wanted to be on her fire escape and away from the crowd. Benny would just scoff at that, bump her shoulder and make her face her fears if he knew. That’s what he always did, pushed her out of her comfort zone. Benny’s tendency to push her without piling on pressure probably contributed the most (aside from his amazing smile) to her silly crush. 

Practically reading her mind and raising an eyebrow, Benny offered Nina his hand. Sighing in resignation, she relented and joined him on the dance floor for an upbeat latin number. Much to Nina’s teenage dismay, Benny kept the physical contact between them to an absolute minimum. He basically just held her hand and spun her around for about 45 seconds before Usnavi cut in. 

“Finally having fun?” Usnavi asked as they danced. He really was the older brother she never asked for. 

“Yeah, as much fun as I can have in a large group of people,” she laughed as he twirled her. 

“Come on one day won't hurt,” Usnavi argued, as the shyest guy she knew she was sure he really did understand her reservations behind large groups of people despite his encouraging words. “In a couple of hours, you’ll be back on top of the world watching over all of us as we work or in Benny and Sonny’s case get into trouble.”

“I can’t wait!” she grinned. 

“So, on a scale from one to ten, how much fun did you have?” Vanessa asked Nina as she helped the Rosario’s clean up after the party. Nina had ditched the heels and tiara and replaced them with her sneakers, a hoodie over the pink dress, and her new airbrushed hat. 

“I think maybe a nine? I still felt weird dancing in front of everyone.” Nina admitted. Vanessa had been on a mission to get Nina to do things that got her at least to an eight-level of fun, thinking her new friend was way too cautious for her own good.

“That’s not bad Rosario. I’m proud of you.” Vanessa grinned. “So, who’s the hat from?”

“One of the guys,” Nina shrugged noncommittally. 

“One of the guys,” Vanessa mocked, “A certain tall dark and handsome guy?” she guessed. Causing Nina to turn bright red. She should never have confided in Vanessa that she had a major crush on Benny, but she had to tell someone or else she’d go crazy! 

“It’s my birthday, he had to get me a gift.” she rationalized. That was the worst part about being a mature kid, she knew the reality of their age difference and never actually entertained the idea of her and Benny being together romantically. He was more of an ideal than an aspiration, she wanted a guy like Benny, not Benny himself. That would be crazy, not to mention illegal. At least that’s what she told herself every time he did something that reminded her he saw her as his little sister.


	4. Club Kids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina's night on the town doesn't go quite like she had planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nina and Vanessa are 16  
> Usnavi and Benny are 21

“Come on! You have to come out!” Vanessa pleaded with her best friend. If left to her own devices, Vanessa would live on the dancefloor. Nina knew some of the other girl’s enthusiasm to spend her nights out came from a deep-rooted desire to avoid her home life, though no one could deny that she truly loved to dance and be the center of attention.

“One, I need to study for finals, two, we’re sixteen. We shouldn’t be at the club.” Nina reasoned.

“It’s Friday night. You can study all weekend.” Vanessa argued already pulling stuff out of Nina’s closet.

“Just because that dress is three sizes too small for me now, doesn’t mean it’ll make me suddenly look five years older than I am.” She smirked with her arms crossed over her chest feeling victorious over her enthusiastic friend. 

“You don't have to look old enough to get in, Domingo is covering the door today so he’ll let us in. You just have to look less like a prude so we don’t get kicked out.” 

Half an hour later Nina and Vanessa were very much inside a salsa club. Nina decided it was her duty as Vanessa’s best friend to be a chaperone for her best friend, but really she was excited to be in the middle of the excitement. Vanessa was a regular from the looks of things, every few steps someone would greet her or ask her to save them a dance. Much like in school, Nina felt a combination of isolation and excitement when she entered the room with Vanessa. She attracted attention in a way that Nina had never been able to understand.

“You can go dance with that guy you know.” Nina finally reassured Vanessa after she turned down the fourth offer to dance. 

“No way! I’m not ditching you. I’ll wait until two cute guys ask us to dance.”

“Um, I’m not really a dancer though,” she lamely tried to get out of a situation she wasn’t even in yet.

“You don’t have to be good, these losers just need a pretty girl on their arm.” Nina thought about diving back into her earlier speech about legality and how dancing with guys over the age of twenty-one was potentially asking for trouble but she knew it would fall on deaf ears. “Come on, we can dance together for now,” Vanessa exclaimed dragging her to a spot on the dance floor strategically in view of a group consisting of five or so guys at the bar.  
It wasn’t long before Vanessa’s plan paid off and a couple of guys started dancing with them. Vanessa and her partner were seemingly trying to reenact a scene from Dirty Dancing while Nina was just trying to keep an eye on her friend and maintain a respectful distance from the guy trying to dance with her while not being outright rude. That didn’t last long. One second the guy was pulling her closer to presumably whisper something in her ear, the next he was on the floor and Nina was looking straight into Benny’s livid gaze. She spotted Usnavi with a couple of girls over Benny’s shoulder looking shocked before he walked over to Vanessa’s partner and calmly pulled her aside. 

“We’re leaving. Now.” He said in a deadly voice. “You too Vanessa,” he called over his shoulder not even looking at the girl in question.  
“Excuse me macho-caveman-guy, I came here to dance.” Vanessa countered. 

“You’re sixteen.” he argued, “Something could happen to you, and I’m not willing to take that chance.”

“I’m not leaving,” she retorted planting her feet. 

“Um, I can watch out for her. Make sure nothing gets too crazy.” Usnavi offered. 

“Fine. Whatever.” Benny relented, knowing Usnavi would probably just sit on a barstool and let Vanessa dance with whoever she wanted then walk her home at the end of the night. 

“I don’t want to leave Vanessa,” Nina argued. 

“Too bad. Usnavi’s got her, we’re leaving.” Sighing in resignation Nina went to hug Vanessa goodbye.  
The ride back to the barrio was a quiet one. Nina was pouting and Benny was seething. “What the hell were you thinking?” Benny finally demanded.

“I just wanted to have fun.” she shrugged, it wasn’t like she could admit she’d been dragged to the club against her will. He’d really think she was a stupid little girl then. Plus it would prove his point. 

“Fun? You’re too young to be having that kind of fun.”

“We were just dancing, I didn’t even get a soda because statistically speaking bartenders are more likely to slip things in your drinks when you go out than random guys,” she exclaimed causing Benny to laugh despite himself as he parked in front of his building, which was only a short walk from the Rosario’s apartment. “You didn’t have to lose it and punch the guy,” she exclaimed angrily walking towards home. 

“Trust me, ditching my date to make sure you don’t get molested isn’t my idea of a fun night either kid.” he countered easily catching up to her which only served to drive her even crazier. She didn’t need reminding that her longtime crush was dating. She knew he dated obviously but still he didn’t have to rub it in her face. 

“I think I can manage from this point, thanks. Maybe you can still salvage your date.” 

“Haha, like I’m going to take the chance you get mugged or worse this close to getting you home. I don’t think so. Plus there’s no way Sandra will talk to me anytime soon.” Great, now she felt guilty. She hadn't wanted to go out anyway, and now, here was her friend Benny being nice and worried about her and she was being a spoiled brat.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled practically feeling him smirk next to her. 

“Hey, we all do stupid shit. I’m actually surprised you went sixteen whole years without doing something illegal or reckless. If I hadn’t been so worried when I saw that punk reaching for your ass I’d have been proud of you.” 

“Wait...what? EW! He was not reaching for my butt!” she gasped loudly. 

“Seriously Rosario? You’re way too oblivious to be going out to clubs.” he laughed. “What would you do without me?” he asked ruffling her hair.


	5. Fire Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nina is 17  
> Benny is 22

Benny lay in bed keeping as much space between his latest conquest and himself as possible. This was the part of the night he hated the most. Not because Jenna wasn’t smokin’ hot, he just didn’t really want to have to deal with her in the morning. He wasn’t looking for anything more than a fun time and in his experience, if a chick stayed the night she expected something more from him than a casual hook up. Being a decent guy, he couldn't just kick her out either. Usually, he dropped subtle hints to let a girl know the night was over, Jenna just seemed to ignore all of them. 

Just as he was delving deeper into the inner workings of his mind and his commitment issues Benny heard a familiar creaking outside his window. Rosario. Over the years she'd ventured further and further from her own fire escape and onto the ones in the surrounding buildings. Sometimes he busted her and walked her home, other nights he let her have her space. He suspected his building was the least frequented on her rout as it was the shortest one on the block. Taking one last look at the blond in his bed, Benny quietly crawled out and threw on some sweats making sure to slip on some shoes too.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Nina remarked without even turning around. Sensing Benny's presence had become her superpower lately. It was annoying.

“I live here.” he reminded her.

“Technicality,” she smirked finally facing him and sitting on the floor, leaning against the railing. 

Sliding down against the wall directly across from her, they sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before either broke it. “So what's tonight's topic of obsession?” Benny asked knowing her routine by now. She only wandered the barrio when she really needed to clear her mind. Even then, being out past one in the morning on a school night was pretty unheard of.

She silently reached into her pocket and handed him a folded piece of paper. Taking the paper with trepidation at her somber look, Benny slowly scanned the words in front of him. 

“Nina, this is amazing! A scholarship?” he exclaimed forgetting to keep his voice down.

“Partial.” she corrected. “I'd still need to work to pay off the rest.” she shrugged.

“Still pretty amazing.” he countered.

“Did you see the school?” she asked quietly.

“Stanford. That's what's up.” he grinned bubbling with excitement. Ever since she was a kid and he would hide in her father’s dispatch Benny knew that if anyone could change the world it would be Nina. She was always different, smarter and more determined than anyone else he knew. Yet he'd also noticed that as she got older her insecurity and over-analyzation often kept her from leaving her comfort zone. 

“It's in California,” she stated unnecessarily revealing the real issue. 

“Just a phone call away. I'm sure your parents won't mind the time difference.” 

“What about my fire escape?” she asked rhetorically. 

“It should be used to your late night calls by now.” 

“I mean I won't have one in California."

“You'll have something way fancier like a balcony," he countered, to her skeptical look he added “I can send you pictures of it every once in a while so you know it’s still there.” finally getting a real laugh out of her. “Come on, you have class in a few hours, let me walk you home.”

“Won’t your date mind?” Nina teased “I can find my own way.” To his benefit, Benny had the good sense to blush at her statement. Perpetual good-girl Nina Rosario was the last person he wanted to talk to about his escapades. But Nina wasn't stupid, she’d heard about his reputation in the barrio, and truth be told it was one of the main reasons she didn't frequent his building. It was bad enough having a schoolgirl crush on a grown man, she didn't need it rubbed in her face. However, this marked the first time he actually had anyone over when she happened to drop by.

“I don't see why,” Benny responded with a shrug, “It's not like I'll see her again after tonight,” he admitted already descending the ladder, mostly trying to hide his face after that statement. If Nina was transcending the stereotypes of her circumstances he felt with that admission he was feeding into them.

"Okay, but don't call me if you come home to a boiling rabbit," she warned causing him to laugh loudly.


	6. Out at Stanford

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nina is 18 when the chapter begins, it ends about a month after her 19th birthday.   
> Gloria is 22

Nina glared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked thin, tired, and ridiculous in her new In ‘N’ Out uniform. She was pretty sure that the image before her was not what anyone back home pictured when they told her she was going to change the world. Nonetheless, it couldn’t be helped. Money was needed to eat and books alone were more than a thousand dollars, not to mention room and board which wasn’t covered by her scholarship. Reluctantly packing her textbook for the train, Nina took a deep breath and made her way to her first day at work. 

It was horrible. 

She smelled of grease, people were rude, they didn’t close until 1:30 in the morning, meaning she worked until 2:30 and she was pretty sure her manager was a pervert. “ _Pacencia y fe_ ,” she told herself as she lay in bed, thankful for her roommate’s active social calendar which often left her alone at night. With only a few hours before her 6:00 am shift at the local gym, one of the few twenty-four-hour places in the area, she needed all the peace and quiet she could get. 

The blaring of her cell phone woke Nina from her restless sleep. Looking at the caller ID she saw her mom’s name flashing.

“Hey _Mami_!” she greeted trying to sound cheerful as she looked around frantically for her shoes, not even bothering to change out of the sweatpants she slept in. 

“ _Hola mi’ja_ , how’s school? Are you done with classes for the day?” she asked innocently.

“It’s you know, hard. Lots of homework, I actually have one more class today.” 

“You’re used to hard work. Always the smartest one in the barrio.” despite her word’s good intentions Nina couldn’t help but feel the weight of them. As a _boricua_ she was always expected to work harder, not complain just get things done, that’s what her people did. Yet some days it all felt like too much, too much work, too much school, too much pressure to always be better than everyone else. 

“I know _Mami_ , I’ve got it covered,” she responded stepping outside, surprised by the dwindling sunlight. 

“I’m surprised you have a class so late, it’s almost six, shouldn’t you be getting dinner?” Camila asked, causing Nina to stumble from the shock.

“Um, it’s a study group in the library, not a real class and we’re eating there.” she covered too embarrassed to admit the reason for her disorientation to her mom. Her parents hated the idea of her having one job let alone two. “I actually have to go, I’m here already. I’ll call you later _Mami_ , I love you! Say hello to everyone for me.” She barely heard her mother’s farewell before hanging up. She’d missed a class. She’d only ever missed one day of classes in her life and that was towards the end of her senior year of high school once she was already accepted into college. In fact, it was the day after she visited Benny freaking out about her partial scholarship and moving so far away from everyone she knew. She knew even back then that the experience would be harder than anything she’d ever done before so she decided to treat herself to a rare day off and play sick. Given that she normally begged to go to school her parents easily caved and let her stay home. 

Home. 

She’d been at Stanford almost a full semester and California didn’t feel like it would ever become home. For Nina home was her parents, Abuela, Usnavi, Vanessa, the ladies at the salon, little Sonny, and Benny. 

Benny, she hated thinking of him. Months away from home and still her little crush lingered. It was frustrating, to say the least, yet she didn’t know how to let it go. In her defense, though he made it impossible to forget him. Just as she thought her crush was ending she’d get a picture in the mail of the whole gang or more recently of her empty fire escape. Just remembering that thoughtfulness, made her tear up. 

Determined to get some work done and live up to all of their expectations, Nina made her way to the library before her next shift.

\-----

Leave of absence. 

That’s what the school called it, to Nina it was the end of the world. Despite not being officially kicked out, she was asked to take the rest of the semester off to find her footing. She’d be able to register for the next semester and even apply to get her scholarship reinstated if her GPA was high enough. They made it all sound positive but it wasn’t. She was homeless, broke and worst of all a failure. She officially had two days to get her stuff out of the dorm, but first, she needed to get to work and pretend everything was fine. 

“Hey _chica_ , how’s it going?” a bubbly trainer by the name of Gloria greeted her. 

“Don’t even ask.” she sighed clocking in and talking her spot behind the counter. At least this job was mindless, all she had to do was sit and check people in. 

The best and worst part about working with someone like Gloria was her boundless energy and genuine interest in people. Unfortunately for Nina, Gloria decided to direct her energy into fixing Nina’s day. That’s how she found herself on Gloria’s couch revealing everything she’d been going through for the past year.

“Well I don’t know what to say about the school thing, but you can stay here.” she offered, gesturing around her tiny studio apartment. 

“What?” Nina asked in shock, no one outside of the people in the barrio had ever been so nice to her.

“I mean it would have to be on the couch, but it’s something.” she shrugged.

“I can help with rent or groceries.” Nina offered, too proud to take charity. 

“You still need to save while you figure out a gameplan, and you won’t have a room...so how about a third of the rent and you bring home In ‘N’ Out after your shifts?” before Nina could protest the generosity, Gloria added, “If you decide to come back after the summer we can look at getting a bigger place and split the rent then. It might be cheaper than the dorms.”

“Thank you,” Nina said quietly trying not to well up. 

“Hey, we gotta stick together! Why don’t you crash here tonight, and tomorrow we can pack up the dorm?”

“I have to go to work in an hour.” Nina protested.

“Call in sick. And now that you’re not taking classes you can probably put in for better hours too.” Just what Nina needed, someone on the West coast as bossy as Vanessa.


	7. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina finally lets the barrio in on her secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the point where this fic and the original work overlap! There will be lyrics used as dialog though I tried to keep it to a minimum. Any lyrics will be in dialogue form, so punctuation may change but I tried to be respectful and not mess with perfection. Nina is 19 and Benny is 24.

Nina made her way to the dispatch. She couldn’t take the weight of her secret anymore. Her flight had landed at 3 am, which was way too early to break her parent’s hearts. Their little girl hadn’t only failed out of college, she’d been lying to them about it for months. Abuela Claudia, Usnavi, and even little Sonny were a great distraction, but at the end of the day, even they couldn’t help her. 

Taking a deep breath in preparation for the inevitable, Nina walked into the dispatch and saw Benny on the mic, which was the last thing she expected. Obviously, someone had called out, her dad would never bench his best driver otherwise.

“Benny hey…” she greeted once he spotted her. Whether it was the guilt of her failure, the unexpected encounter or something else, Nina found that her schoolgirl crush now fully took her breath away. 

“Nina, you’re home today!” he exclaimed standing up clumsily.

“Any sign…”

“Of you’re folks?” he asked completing her sentence, “They’re on their way.” So she’d missed them again. 

“Anyway…” she said awkwardly not knowing if she should wait or go home. 

“It’s good to see your face…” Benny commented, surprising her. 

“Anytime…” she laughed, suddenly more at ease.

“Hold up a minute, wait!” he called after her, “You used to run this dispatch, right?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“Once or twice…” she smirked, expecting him to try and pawn the job off on her.

“Well check the technique! Yo!” and to her surprise, Benny proceeded to rap the directions over the mic. She wasn’t sure if he was doing it for her amusement sensing her mood as he’d always been able to do, or if he simply wanted to show off his latest improv skills, regardless she was grateful for the distraction. Opting to spend the day at the dispatch, Nina and Benny quickly fall back into the easy camaraderie they’d always had, that is until her parents walked in.

Telling them that she’d failed was probably the worst moment of her life to that point. She went from being the barrio’s princess to a liar in a second. The hurt and disappointment in her parent's faces was enough to keep her from home for the rest of the day. Instead, she willingly endured some teasing from the ladies at the salon about her crush on Benny, but that too as short lived. All too quickly the conversation turned to praise for her intelligence and accomplishments, and she found herself admitting defeat then running away. 

As she’d long ago come to realize, all roads lead to _Abuela’s_ step. That was the place for the serious kind of thinking that even the fire escape couldn’t fix. It was all just too much, all the pressure to be perfect, it was as if the entire neighborhood was counting on her to rescue it. 

\------

Leaving work for the day, Benny spotted Nina sitting on _Abuela’s_ doorstep with Sonny. Seeing her reminded him of all the teasing he’d endured regarding his feelings for Nina after Domingo went and told Usnavi about his performance on the dispatch mic. He honestly didn’t know what came over him, it was just Nina, the same girl he’d been friends with for years. But the cute little girl he knew with frizzy pigtails was gone, she’d been replaced with a beautiful woman and he didn’t know when that happened. Suddenly all the best parts about their relationship were there mixed with something completely new and he didn't know how to respond to it. 

Getting rid of Sonny, Benny made himself comfortable on the step next to her. They joked about the jerks he worked with and the college kids she’d met before he couldn’t take her melancholy demeanor anymore. Clearly, in need of a boost, he offered to take Nina on a walking tour of the barrio. He knew she knew the city as well if not better than he did, but maybe seeing it from an outsider’s perspective would help clear her mind. At very least it might remind her that she could tell him anything.

Eventually, they ended up in the park where he used to rap with Usnavi and the boys, “You know when you're home, the summer nights are cooler...now that you're here with me” he told her after an awkward silence. Receiving a smile in response he continued, “And that song you are hearing? It’s the neighborhood just cheering you along…”

“Don't say that.” she abruptly cut him off. 

“What's wrong?” he asked startled by her outburst, in all the time he'd known her he’d only really made her mad once or twice. 

“Don't say that!” she pleaded more desperately, and he felt a classic Nina rant bubbling up. “When I was younger, I'd imagine what would happen if my parents would have stayed in Puerto Rico. Who would I be if I had never seen Manhattan if I lived in Puerto Rico with my people? My people…” she trailed off, presumably thinking of the gringos on the West Coast she’d complained about earlier. “I feel like all my life, I've tried to find the answer. Working harder, learning Spanish, learning all I can. I thought I might find the answer out at Stanford, but I'd stare out at the sea thinking, where am I supposed to be?” She sighed. “So please...don't say you're proud of me when I've lost my way.” she ended quietly her voice on the verge of cracking. 

“Then can I say…” he started slowly walking towards her so as not to trigger another rant, “I couldn't get my mind off you all day.” He admitted. Catching the shock on her face he decided to lay the cards on the table while he had the chance. “Now listen to me. That may be how you perceive it but Nina please believe, that when you find your way again, you're gonna change the world. And then we're all gonna brag and say we knew her when this was your home.” he reassured her. 

“I'm home,” she confirmed, though he couldn’t tell if she was talking about him or the barrio...and, to be honest, he didn’t care. 

“Welcome home.” he smiled, extending his hand to her. Nina Rosario 101 she had to do everything in her own time. 

“When you're here with me, I’m home,” she confirmed, taking his hand, which he held until they reached her parent’s place later that night. 

“You're finally home.”


	8. Blackout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set between the fight at Nina's dinner and the beginning of Act II

Nina seethed as she walked towards the club. How could her father sell the business? How could he treat her mother, his partner, as if she had no say? How could he talk to Benny that way? She knew for a fact that he loved Benny like the son he never had. Nothing made sense anymore and the one person she would normally talk to had also been affected by her father’s reckless decision. 

As soon as her thoughts turned to Benny, Nina felt a pit form in her stomach. A few hours earlier her heart had fluttered in the presence of the kind man she's come admire and regard as one of her closest friends. The afternoon they’d spent together was surreal. 

Having had a crush on him for years, Nina didn’t believe Benny would ever really flirt with her. Thus she took his performance at the dispatch with a grain of salt. It wasn’t until _Abuela’s_ doorstep when he shooed Sonny away, then took her around the barrio and as was his specialty defused her self-doubt that she realized what was going on. Benny had held her hand looking at her like she was the most extraordinary person in the world as he walked her home before going back to his own place to get ready for her homecoming dinner. It was all she’d ever hoped for and now she’d lost him his job, leaving their personal relationship in limbo.

It took her less than a second to find him at the bar downing drinks. “Benny, can we take a walk outside?” she asked.  
“And there she is!” he exclaimed sarcastically.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know!” she tried to explain, yelling over the loud music. 

“Who let you in?” he demanded. The entire neighborhood knew she was only nineteen. “This is the girl who cost us our jobs today!” he yelled at the bartender who couldn’t care less.

“I’m gonna make it right!” she implored causing him to scoff.

“A toast to the end of all I know!” He said downing his shot and then the one Usnavi left behind. 

“You’ve had enough!” Nina scolded officially upset with him as well as her father. 

“Says the girl who has it all!” 

“That’s not fair!” she yelled, he knew she’d been busting her ass all year to come up empty-handed. 

“Well, why don’t you run home to daddy? He loves to remind me that I’ll never be good enough for your family…for you…”

“You don’t know me!” Nina spat, even though just a few hours ago she would have sworn he was the one person who knew her best. 

“Poor you…” he mocked.

“I thought you were different,” she said quietly, but she knew he’d heard her. 

_“Salud”_ he smirked humorlessly, and Nina finally left him alone.

As always Vanessa was the center of attention on the dancefloor, guys were literally falling over themselves to get in on the action. So, for the first time in a long time, Nina felt isolated and alone while in a crowd of people in her own neighborhood. Being home meant nothing if the people she'd depended on her whole life were gone. Before too long she accepted some guy’s offer to dance, wanting to disconnect from her disastrous night. One moment she was dancing the next she was alone and the guy was on the floor. The situation felt oddly familiar only this time Benny didn’t valiantly escort her out of the club, instead, he proceeded to pound on the guy as more people joined the fight. Taking the night from chaotic to catastrophic, the lights and music suddenly went out shrouding the room in darkness.

Everything after that was a blur. Nina found herself pushed around trying to make her way out of the club. Torn between looking for Benny and leaving him to his own devices for being a jerk, Nina frantically looked around trying to locate him with her limited vision. Once she spotted him outside, drunk but otherwise fine, she stubbornly refused his offer to get her home. 

One second she was walking home, or at least in a direction she hoped was close to home, feeling like she kept getting turned around in the dark, and the next Benny was pulling her into a mindblowing kiss. 

“Yo, be mad at me, you have every reason to be, just let me get you home safe,” not being able to see her clearly in the dark made her silence that much more disconcerting, “or to my place, or we can just stand here if you want...but you’re not getting rid of me until I’m sure you’re safe.”

“I don’t want to go home,” she admitted quietly as people continued to bump into them. Her brain was a tangled mess of emotions, she couldn’t help reacting to his kiss and the magnetic pull he always had on her. Nonetheless, some of the things he’d said to her hit below the belt. 

“My place is less than a block from here, would that be okay?” he asked with trepidation, expecting her to either run away or punch him any second. 

“That’s fine,” she finally relented.

 

\-------

 

The walk to Benny’s place was silent, punctuated only by the odd warning to head an obstacle on the route. Once they were safely inside, and the door locked behind them Benny was faced with the reality that if he didn’t break the silence he was going to have to deal with it for the rest of the night. 

“Look, I was a jerk…” he trailed off hoping she would interject. Unfortunately, he could practically hear her raised eyebrow as she crossed her arms and stared him down. He’d never been more grateful for the darkness. He crossed a line, he’d let his insecurity about measuring up to Mr. Rosario’s standards get to him, and he’d taken it out on Nina. Playing the night back in his head, it truly dawned on him that throughout everything she’d only been concerned with him and making sure he was taken care of. Instead of reassuring her that he would be okay, he’d mocked her. “I’m sorry.” he finished lamely, walking towards her.

“For what exactly?” she grilled, taking a seat on his coffee table, with no intention of making things easy for him. 

“Everything? I was upset, and I handled it in the worst possible way. I took everything out on you and you didn’t deserve it.”

“I told you I’d fix it,” she argued.

“Nina, this was never really about the shock of losing my job. It was about losing your family, losing you.”

“So you decided that calling me spoiled and pushing me away was the best course of action?” she laughed. 

“Decide...gives me too much credit,” he laughed crouching in front of her “I’m an idiot and I was drunk," he defended, pretty sure she raised an eyebrow at the word 'was'. “You’re the least entitled person I know. But hearing that I’m not good enough for the only family I’ve ever known, for you, that made me crazy. I think it hit me harder because I think your father is right. You shouldn’t be stuck in the barrio, you’re going to change the world someday.” he smiled. But just as he started to make some headway with his apology Nina rolled her eyes and crossed her arms again.

“You know what makes me crazy?” she asked rhetorically, “Everyone thinks they have the right to decide what’s best for me! Maybe I feel like I’ve lost my way because no one gives me the freedom to find it.” she scoffed. Even though he was on the receiving end of her rant, Benny couldn’t help but feel proud of her fiery temper. She was right of course, she was always right.

“Okay,” he conceded, catching her off guard. 

“Okay, what?”

“Whatever you want. You decide Nina. You know you’re father wants you to go back to school and stay as far away from me and the barrio as possible. I hope you know that I want to spend as much time with you as possible. But for what it’s worth I also think you should go back to school, even if it’s not Stanford because you’re the smartest person I know.” 

“I can’t afford College right now,” she argued. 

“You can if Rosario’s gets sold.” 

“But that’s selfish, it doesn’t just affect me! There’s you, Domingo and the guys...my parents!”

“Hey, that’s not your issue. I’ll find another job, I’ve been talking about doing more with my life for years, this could be the push I need. I can't speak for your parents but I know that even though your mom is livid right now, it’s always been her dream to see you graduate so giving up the business won’t be a huge sacrifice for her. Between you and me, your dad needs her to negotiate the sale though.”

“You sound like you want me to go.” she sighed.

“Not at all, I want you to pick what you really want regardless of how it affects everyone else.”

“All I know for sure is that I want us to be good. If you’re too worried about messing things up with my dad I get it and we can forget the last twenty-four... ” Benny cut off her rant with a gentle kiss. 

“I don’t want to forget anything,” he finished for her. “Your dad is the best man I’ve ever known, but I’m not a punk kid anymore, and if anything I want him to see that too,” he reassured her. 

 

“I need to seriously learn Spanish.” Benny decided walking out of the bathroom, now fully dressed in sweatpants and an undershirt. Nina, who was sitting on his bed wearing nothing but his old t-shirt just laughed at him. 

“That’s your first coherent thought after what just happened?” she scoffed once she stopped giggling. “I’m flattered.” Truth be told she was happy that things were so normal between them. It was no secret that her experience with men was limited at best yet it wasn’t the physical intimacy that she was truly worried about once the moment presented itself. The one thing Nina’s books didn’t agree on was the protocol for the moment after sex. 

“No,” he argued laying in bed and pulling her down into his arms, “My first thought was disbelief. But after that, I got to thinking that Spanish would help me in my career.”

“Okay, let's start now!” Nina exclaimed excitedly sitting back up.

“Okay,” Benny conceded pulling her back so she was once again laying on his chest.

“Benny!”

“What? You don’t have to sit to teach,” he argued wrapping his arms tighter around her small frame. The notion of cuddling was completely foreign to Benny, yet it came naturally with Nina. Whether a result of the fear of her moving back to the West Coast or the fact that physical contact was the only way for the two to become closer than they already were, Benny couldn’t seem to get enough of Nina Rosario in his arms. 

“Fine, you pick the words and I’ll tell you the Spanish version. Then we can trade and we can see what you’ve learned.”

“Store?”

_“Tienda.”_

“Um...lightbulb?”

_“Bombilla.”_

“That one’s weird.”

“Is that a question or an observation?”

“The second one” he laughed. 

“Isn’t it weird?” she asked unexpectedly.

“Spanish? Yeah, that’s why I need your help.”

“No. This, us...all of it,” she asked tracing invisible patterns on his chest.

“I don’t think so, why do you?” He asked worriedly.

“No, yes.” she sighed, “I’ve had a crush on you for years, you weren’t supposed to like me back!” she laughed.

“Be less likable next time.”


End file.
